Potato Salad Probable Cause of Food Poisoning at IDF Base

August 17, 1995

Potato salad containing spoiled mayonnaise was the probable cause of a severe case of food poisoning that affected some 200 soldiers at an army base in southern Israel, according to an initial inquiry by the Israel Defense Force.

The IDF was also investigating whether food poisoning was connected to the death of a career officer, 1st Sgt. Maj. Meir Dahan, 40, at the Ovda Air Force Base.

Dahan, who had been suffering from diarrhea the night before, died after his condition deteriorated.

The head of the army’s health division, Dr. Yitzhak Ashkenazi, told Israel Radio that samples of all food eaten on Sunday and Monday had been checked.

“We suspect that Monday’s lunch caused it,” he said.

Some 18 soldiers remained in the hospital Wednesday.

Earlier this month, a group of soldiers on a training exercise in the center of Israel became ill after drinking water from containers in which oil had been previously stored.